Why should I test dental unit waterlines? 

Dental treatment water is normally contaminated beyond drinking water standards.  The amount of contamination found in municipal drinking water is less than 500 colony forming units/milliliter (cfu/mL), but the dental handpiece is very often contaminated in excess of 1,000,000 cfu/mL.  The American Dental Association's goal of less than 200 cfu/mL can be achieved only by cleaning the dental unit water system and using water of low microbial count on a routine basis.

How can I test my dental unit waterlines?

The effectiveness of your in-house cleaning procedures can be evaluated only by faithful analysis of water samples from the unit.  We at Baylor College of Dentistry have been processing the waterline samples for dental practitioners for years and are at the cutting edge of research on controlling the microbial contamination of waterlines.

Call us for a waterline sampling kit.  We will send you a kit with water sample vials and a freezer pack in a styrofoam container.  The cost is $35.00 (payable in advance) for the first two vials and $20.00 for each additional set of two.  We will mail you a written report seven days after we receive your water samples in our lab.

Our contact information can be found at Contacts.